Chapter 72
There is no doubt that Jiang Wanning slept with Jiang's mother that night.
Lu Shang was very thoughtful in his arrangements. Not only did he prepare new bedding for the two elders of the Jiang family, he also personally went to an outside clinic to get two foot-soaking recipes for relieving fatigue and tiredness. He boiled a large bucket of it for each of the two elders. Later, he simply added three more pains, so that all five members of the family were not left out.
He was afraid that Father Jiang would not be used to sleeping alone, so he went over to chat with him. He did most of the talking, and the topic always revolved around Jiang Wanning. Father Jiang listened very carefully and was reluctant to interrupt.
In the end, Mr. Jiang was really exhausted, so Lu Shangfang asked to leave.
Father Jiang tugged at his hand, rather reluctantly saying, "Come back tomorrow and tell me how Wan Ning managed to raise so many talented people."
Lu Shang readily agreed: "No problem, Dad, you should get some rest. When you're well rested, I'll take you directly to Aning's private school. No matter how good I say it, it's never as good as seeing it with your own eyes."
"Oh, okay, okay, thank you, thank you so much..."
It took only an hour, but Jiang's father's impression of Lu Shang changed greatly. At this moment, he no longer had any criticism, and was only grateful to this son-in-law whom he met for the first time.
During the years when he was absent from his daughter's growth, it was thanks to Lu Shang's retelling that he was able to make up for some of his regrets.
In another adjacent room, Jiang Wanning enjoyed her mother's head scratching for the first time in a long time. Her gentle fingertips slid across her scalp, and the slight force made her close her eyes comfortably.
Neither of them spoke, just maintaining the peace.
That night, the mother and daughter lay on the bed, one inside the other, and chatted until late at night before they showed any signs of resting.
When the Jiang family was convicted and exiled, the only times they felt truly miserable were during the exile and the first two years after arriving in the north. Later, they found a small tribe in the north, which consisted of only twelve or thirteen people. They did not exclude outsiders, so they settled down there.
Mother Jiang murmured, "...the name of that small tribe is very long. Even after living here for so many years, I still can't remember it. Fortunately, your father and I don't go out, so we don't have to worry about not being able to find our way home."
"All of us in the tribe work together and share the fruits of our labor. Even though your father and I are not as strong as the young and strong men in the tribe, we have never lacked for food and necessities. The North may not be as prosperous as the Central Plains, but it is not something to be avoided."
Knowing that her parents had not suffered all these years, Jiang Wanning felt at ease.
She was silent for a moment, then asked again, "What about Big Brother? Why didn't I see him come back with you? Actually, two years ago, Big Brother Zhan and his men went to the north. They couldn't find your whereabouts that time, but they unexpectedly heard that there was a new general in the Northwest Camp. His legs were a little inconvenient, but he was an excellent archer..."
Mother Jiang was also silent for a long time before she said, "You are right. The new commander of the Northwest Camp is Zhiyu."
The eldest son of the Jiang family is named Zhiyu, Jiang Zhiyu.
"When we first arrived in the North, no tribe was willing to take us in. We wandered around for two years before we found a place. We were afraid of being driven away, so we had to work hard. Zhiyu's leg injury had been delayed for too long, and it had damaged his bones. The tribe's witch doctor fixed his bones, but he needed six months to recuperate before he could go out to work. After all, he was living under someone else's roof. At that time, I thought, your father and I should do Zhiyu's work together to avoid public criticism."
Unexpectedly, her kindness almost cost her son his life.
Jiang's father and mother are already old, and they have suffered a lot during the exile. Their health is not as good as before. If they only do their own work, they may be able to hold on, but they have to take care of Jiang Zhiyu at the same time, so it is not surprising that they are exhausted.
Mother Jiang fell ill again. Although she was very secretive about the cause of her illness, the eldest son of the Jiang family was so smart that he could guess the reason. He took care of his bedridden mother quietly, but he saw Mother Jiang pass away quietly on the night she recovered from a serious illness.
Jiang's mother's voice was filled with tears. "We've been looking for him for a long, long time... I don't know where to find him, and we don't know the way. We finally asked the tribesmen for help, but there's still no news."
"More than half a year passed like this. We received a letter from Zhiyu, telling us that he had been rescued by the general of the Northwest Camp. By some strange coincidence, he had become the general's aide-de-camp and planned to stay in the Northwest Camp."
"For the next two or three years, we didn't see Zhiyu again. We only received letters from him every six months, letting us know he was doing well in the Northwest Camp. Your father and I wrote to Zhiyu before coming to Songxi County, but he said that border guards couldn't easily leave the camp, and he agreed. He just asked us to bring you his blessing."
Jiang Wanning had many speculations about her elder brother's whereabouts. Although she regretted not being able to meet him, she felt relieved to know that his life was back on track.
She stammered, "It's me who has implicated Big Brother. Otherwise, with Big Brother's ability, he would have achieved great success long ago."
Mother Jiang shook her head and took her hand, placing it on her chest. "This is a disaster for our Jiang family. No one is dragging anyone down. Fortunately, we are all well now, and the days ahead will get better and better."
The next morning, the two families and the children who were staying at Lu's house sat at the dinner table together.
Perhaps because of the heart-to-heart talk last night, the relationship between Jiang's father and mother and Lu Shang is no longer as awkward as it was yesterday. They greet each other when they meet. Although they are not intimate, they are at least familiar with each other.
Jiang Wanning introduced the children to the Jiang family elders and called Pang Liang out. "This is my youngest disciple. He has been studying with me since he was young, and has been with me for seven or eight years. He passed the imperial examination a few years ago, but because he was still young, I was afraid of causing trouble, so I held him back for two years and will have him take the exam again this autumn."
Then she introduced them to the children: "This is my father and mother."
Yesterday, several children came back late. It was a time of great reunion after a long separation. I felt that time was passing too quickly and naturally I did not meet the children.
Grandma Lu only said one sentence to them so that they would have peace of mind.
Everyone greeted each other, and Father Jiang called Pang Liang to his side. He habitually tested him on his homework. Seeing that his eyes were bright and his demeanor was dignified, he patted his shoulder with satisfaction.
Since it was the first day that Jiang's father and mother officially came over, Jiang Wanning did not want to be separated from them, so she asked Pang Liang to go to the private school to pass on the message that classes would resume after two days of rest.
After discussing with Lu Shang, she had originally planned to take the two elders out to buy some household items. However, just after breakfast, she heard the servant at the door come in and announce, "Master, Madam, there is a guest named Qu who wants to visit the two elders."
This was said vaguely, and the servant had no idea what it meant.
On the contrary, the people sitting in the hall were startled at first, but then quickly recovered. Jiang Wanning asked, "But Uncle Qu is here?"
"Uncle Qu?" Father Jiang was a little confused.
When there was a guest outside the door, Lu Shang went to greet him first, regardless of whether it was Qu Heng or not, leaving Jiang Wanning to make a long story short, briefly telling her about Qu Heng's appointment as the county magistrate of Songxi County and his help during the natural disaster some time ago.
Father Jiang and Mother Jiang were both stunned when they heard this. Father Jiang said in a daze, "That kid Qu Heng... is also in Songxi County."
The two elders of the Jiang family were able to enter the city that day because they had taken the route of the county governor. Otherwise, they would still be criminals and had left the place of exile. Logically, they should have been imprisoned immediately.
As he was speaking, he heard hurried footsteps outside the hall, accompanied by the voice of "Teacher", and Qu Heng's figure appeared from the door. He accidentally tripped over the threshold and stumbled immediately.
But just as he steadied his body, he knelt down again with a thud: "Unfilial disciple - greetings to teacher and mistress!" After he finished speaking, he kowtowed deeply.
Looking at the two elders in front of him, Father Jiang's hands were shaking and Mother Jiang's eyes were red.
After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Wanning chose to leave the hall, leaving it to the remaining three people.
Lu Shang followed closely behind her. As she just walked out of the hall, he grabbed her arm and brought her back to the main courtyard.
After finding her parents and learning the whereabouts of her eldest brother, it can be said that in all these years, Jiang Wanning has never felt as happy as at this moment, and no words can express her joy.
As the two returned to the bedroom, Lu Shang just closed the door and felt a sinking sensation in his arms. He lowered his head and saw that it was Jiang Wanning who had thrown herself at him. This act of throwing herself at him surprised him even more.
Without waiting for Lu Shang to speak, Jiang Wanning called out, "Husband..." Then, she stood on tiptoe and kissed Lu Shang on the chin clumsily but sincerely.
She closed her eyes slightly and repeated again and again: "I am so happy... Husband, I am really happy, I——"
"Thank you."
Lu Shang chuckled, grabbed her chin, and took the initiative.
Qu Heng stayed at the Lu family for a whole day and had to leave only when it was dark. Even when he was about to leave, he kept saying, "Teacher and Master's Wife, please come stay at my house. I have room there—"
This time, Jiang Wanning stepped forward without waiting for Jiang's father and mother to refuse. She smiled, but her words were undeniable: "Uncle Qu, please go back soon. Auntie must be waiting anxiously. My parents haven't seen me for a long time. You should stay with me."
Qu Heng opened his mouth, but had to settle for the next best thing: "Then I'll come back after some time."
"Okay." Jiang Wanning agreed, but as for whether he would agree in the future, that was a matter for the future.
The next day, the five people from the two families went out together, and brought two farmhands to help carry things. They walked around for the whole morning, bought a lot of things, big and small, and finally bought everything for Jiang's father and mother.
Although Jiang Wanning wanted to stay with her parents, she couldn't miss classes every day at her private school, so she had no choice but to go there.
It was only after she went to the private school that she found out that a large number of merchants had come to the private school in the past few days, all of whom brought their children with them. After asking, she found out that their children had received guidance from Lu Shang and heard that the teacher of the nameless private school was very talented, so they dropped out of Lu Lin Academy and came here.
Jiang Wanning roughly counted and found that there were twenty-four students coming over, which exactly matched the number that Lu Shang had mentioned occasionally.
If it were a few days ago, she might still have hesitated, but now she has no worries in her heart. The only thing she needs to pay more attention to is the private school under her. After all, there are only two classes and the number of students is the same.
She explained the rules of the private school to the masters. If they accepted them, they could call their child over starting tomorrow. As for her gender difference, they should have found out about it before they came. Now that they were here, they would definitely not care.
As the private school expanded once again, Jiang Wanning was overjoyed by another thing——
Even Jiang's father would come to listen in every now and then. Occasionally, when he was in the mood, he would replace Jiang Wanning and teach the students on her behalf.
Jiang Wanning did not mention his relationship with Jiang's father, so the students began to distrust him. However, after attending a class, they realized that although they could not tell who was more capable between the old gentleman and the teacher, no matter who it was, he was always better than them.
As a result, they had no objection to Mr. Jiang's occasional teaching.
At the end of August, the autumn examination begins.
It was another year of imperial examinations, and the streets and alleys of the city were filled with people accompanying the scholars to take the exam. The students of Lu Lin Academy came to the examination room together and were about to make the final adjustment in their mentality when they suddenly heard laughter.
"Senior brother will definitely pass the exam this time!"
"Zhongjieyuan!"
They were just about to scold someone for talking nonsense outside the examination room, but when they turned around, they found that the person next to them looked familiar.
"I recognize the guy in the middle. He used to be a student in Class C, but later dropped out..."
"Those remaining few are all from our academy! Have you forgotten that earlier this year, all the business students in Class D dropped out en masse? It caused quite a stir!"
Looking at the examination card in Lu Shang's hand, it was not exactly the same as the ones in their hands. They were all for taking part in the Autumn Examination.
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